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Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers reserved high praise for England's Ollie Pope following the batter's stunning 196-run knock in the recently concluded Test series opener against India in Hyderabad.
Pope was also lauded by Team India head coach Rahul Dravid, who was impressed by the English batter's exhibition of reverse-sweeping. Echoing Dravid's sentiments, de Villiers said in his latest YouTube video:
"The man of the moment, the legend himself, Ollie Pope. No one saw this coming. Unbelievable scenes when Rahul Dravid comes out and recognizes something special. It is very true what he says."
Commending Pope for countering the Indian spinners with great aplomb, De Villiers said:
"I watched almost every single ball and it was just incredible how this guy worked the ball around on a very difficult track against the best spinners in the world. It doesn't get any harder than that. He was just calm and composed."
Pope's knock helped England set an impressive 231-run target for India in the fourth innings of the Hyderabad Test. The visitors ultimately secured a famous 28-run win to go 1-0 up in the five-match series.
"999 out of a thousand bowlers would be gone; they would give up" - AB de Villiers on Tom Hartley's poor start
England's debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley was taken to the cleaners by Indian batters in his first spell of the Test series opener. AB de Villiers suggested that it would be impossible for most bowlers to bounce back from such an onslaught.
The former cricketer remarked:
"The way he started, 0/51 from his first six overs of a Test match, I promise you maybe 999 out of a thousand bowlers would be gone; they would give up. There's no coming back from that. Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma hitting Hartley all over the place."
Hartley made amends on Day 4, repaying the skipper Ben Stokes' faith by bagging an awe-inspiring seven-wicket haul. Reacting to the youngster staging a turnaround, de Villiers added:
"For any player just to half sort of come back into the contest is already incredible, but the way he came back, getting nine wickets in this Test match, is unbelievable. So, well done, Tom Hartley, showing a lot of character. A lot of heart from Heartly."
The second Test between India and England will begin on February 2 at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
